Rinehart’s ore-some ambition

Most of the passengers on the pre-dawn charter flight from Perth to Australia’s remote Pilbara region are fly-in fly-out construction workers dressed in high-visibility shirts. They doze behind dark sunglasses, savouring memories of home leave and preparing for 14 straight days of 12-hour shifts.

In the front row sits Barry Fitzgerald, chief executive of Roy Hill Holdings and the man in charge of the only major greenfield iron ore mine under development in Australia.